Sheffield United: Birthday boy Enda Stevens celebrates turning 29 with THREE sessions on Blades' pre-season training camp in Portugal

The Republic of Ireland international also managed to keep his big day quiet from his Blades teammates, in the Algarve – until United’s media staff pulled him for a chat, to discuss all things pre-season ahead of Friday’s friendly against Real Betis.

“What a great way to spend it,” Stevens joked, about his birthday. “No, obviously it’s the hardest day of the week and we were all anxiously waiting for the running part. It’s never nice but we need to do it, and it’s something to build on.

“It’s second-best to playing games but it’s about building up our fitness, so it’s what we need.

“It’s tough but once we get through it, we can look forward to the game on Friday night.”